Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 7,485 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB cut its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 15.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 40,170 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 7,485 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $2,841,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 106.1% in the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 406 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the period. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 132.6% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 414 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 70.6% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

WRB stock opened at $76.65 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $84.26 and a 200-day moving average of $76.31. The firm has a market cap of $19.66 billion, a PE ratio of 13.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.57. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12-month low of $55.50 and a 12-month high of $89.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.10. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 12.23%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were given a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on WRB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on W. R. Berkley from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $99.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $93.00 to $87.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.63.

About W. R. Berkley

W. R. Berkley Corporation, an insurance holding company, operates as a commercial lines writers worldwide. It operates in two segments, Insurance and Reinsurance & Monoline Excess. The Insurance segment underwrites commercial insurance business, including excess and surplus lines, admitted lines, and specialty personal lines.